Kathleen Brooks - Secrets Collide

“It’s actually going well. When it’s just the two of us, we’re so relaxed and comfortable with each other. It’s really quite strange, given the circumstances, isn’t it?” Gemma asked the women who all shook their heads.

“Not at all. I think being in this kind of situation brings out the real person. There’s no time for pretending. If you all are hitting it off now with all this going on around you, you’ll be nauseatingly cute when you have time to slow down and enjoy each other,” Annie said with fake disgust.

“I guess we’ll see. Sometimes it’s hard to get the real Cy to come out. He had become this Hollywood guy and sometimes he just falls back into it. And then there’s his phone. I am not a violent person but I daydream of shooting it or beating it with a bat until it doesn’t dink anymore.”

“What’s that all about?” Morgan asked as Gemma tried to relax her grip on her glass of special iced tea the girls told her she had to try.

“All these super-hot actresses,” Gemma paused and took another sip of the drink, “models, and socialites. They just keep calling and texting and it always makes me stop and wonder why he is with me when these women want him. I guess it’s giving me a little trust issue. Especially after seeing him in action at the club.”

“You have nothing to worry about. I used to be self-conscious, too. But when the Davies men set their sights on you, they have a way of making you forget all about that,” Tammy giggled before she started to fan herself again. “Is it getting hot in here?”

“Besides, those women are a thousand miles away. You’re here and he’s giving you his undivided attention,” Katelyn said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Cheers to that.” Gemma took a sip and then stopped when she realized no one else was taking a drink. Tammy’s eyes were wide. Katelyn’s drink was paused in the air and Annie thumped her head with her hand. “What?” Gemma asked, but her question died in her throat as she turned in her chair.

A blonde knockout in cut-off jean shorts, sexy heeled boots, and a shirt that didn't quite cover her navel stood in the door of the café. “Excuse me. I’m looking for Cy Davidson. Can someone help me?” the young bombshell asked the stunned restaurant.

Gemma downed the rest of the glass of the ice tea. “Taylor freaking Jefferies.” She turned and grabbed Tammy’s glass and started drinking hers. The door tinkled again and Cy walked in with his little grin that she used to think was sexy.

“Cy,” Taylor squealed as she leaped into his arms.

“You've got to be kidding me,” Gemma groaned and she finished Tammy’s drink. The only sound in the café was the clinking of the ice in her now empty glass.

“Taylor, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?” Cy asked with a grin Gemma realized as his real look. Apparently he didn’t feel the need to be his undercover self with her.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just wanted to see you and you said I could come anytime,” Taylor told him as she finally let go. Gemma grabbed the drink from where Katelyn still had it paused halfway to her mouth and downed it. They had told her it was special and she had to agree with the way the world was tilting around her. Maybe a couple more and the perfectly perky blonde would simply disappear.

As she set the glass down, Cy caught her eye and smiled. “Gemma, you have to meet Taylor.”

Gemma smiled, raised her middle finger, and passed out.

Cy dropped his arm from around Taylor and stared at the woman he loved face down in a plate of peach cobbler. Katelyn’s mouth was open, Tammy’s eyes were wider than he knew possible, Paige looked ready to stab him with a fork, and Kenna would back Paige up. Morgan’s look was so cold he practically shook where he stood and then heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being unholstered. Annie gave him a sweet little smile as she placed the gun on the table.

“What is wrong with you all?” Taylor gasped at the sight and hid behind Cy. Annie directed her gaze to the starlet and cocked the gun.

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong. Cyland, you should be ashamed of yourself.” Miss Violet came at him with her wooden spoon in hand and thwacked him on the head before he knew what was happening. “You toy with a woman and make her fall in love with you and all the while you have some blonde tart in the background,” Miss Violet berated before she lowered her voice and looked to Taylor, “Sorry, hon, I loved you in Mountain Falls .”

“Wait. Everyone calm down. There’s been a misunderstanding.” Cy held up his hands in self-defense. The table of women shot him a can’t-wait-to-hear-this look so he knew he had to hurry. “Taylor and I aren’t dating. We’ve never dated and we’re never going to date.”

“Eww, I couldn’t date Uncle Cy. That would be totally weird,” Taylor’s voice said from behind him.

“I’ve known her since she was eight. I helped her out on the set and took care of her when she emancipated from her parents,” Cy told the café.

“That’s right. He taught me to cook, clean, and drive a car. He even made me get my GED.” Taylor stuck her head out from behind Cy.

“So he was the perfect big brother?” Paige asked as tears welled up in her eyes.

“Yes,” Taylor said, relieved that someone understood.

Cy grimaced as Paige calmly stood up, grabbed her purse, said goodbye to the table. She stopped before him and grabbed Miss Violet’s spoon and cracked it over his head.

“Paige, wait.” Cy grabbed his sister as she sailed by him. “I know you’re upset. But you need to know that you and our family are the reason I decided to retire and come home. I missed everyone and I’m here now. I can’t help but feel like such an outsider. You’re married with a beautiful child. You’ve all moved on and it’s like I was never even here. I know I was gone for a long time, but I’m trying, Paige. I’m trying to be part of the family again. Don’t shut me out now.”

“Shut you out? I called you every week for the past eight years; sometimes you answered and sometimes you didn’t. And you think I’m shutting you out? You shut yourself out, Cy—you still are. Wake up and realize we all want to see you, be with you, and hear what you’ve been up to. But we can’t. You won’t talk to us. You won’t be you, Cy Davies. You’re still Cy Davidson. When you realize we don’t give a crap who you were, just that you’re here and we love you, then I’ll talk to you again. Shoot, even Gemma realizes it.”

Paige yanked her arm free and shoved the door to the café open. It slammed shut as the sound reverberated through the café. The only noise was the slight snore coming from Gemma as she unconsciously took a lick of the caramel sauce she was sleeping on.

He thought he was doing such a good job of being good ol’ Cy. He guessed he was wrong. Now Paige was mad at him and Gemma thought he was having an affair all because he let his undercover work come home with him.

“Who’s Cy Davies?” Taylor asked quietly.

“I am. Or at least I used to be.”

Cy sat on the bench outside of the café with a quiet Taylor next to him. He had just told her the whole story and what she had unknowingly walked into. He had tried to carry Gemma home, but Annie had rested her hand on her gun again and ordered him to “fix this” before he saw her again. Even sweet Tammy narrowed her eyes at him.

He had disappointed them all when he had tried so hard not to. And that was the problem. He had been doing what he had been doing in Hollywood as a spy. Pretending to be someone else to make everyone happy and like him. Although this time he couldn’t pull it off. They all knew him too well and instead were insulted. So rather than taking care of the woman he loved, he was forced to watch Annie and Katelyn maneuver her into the car and take her back to Miss Lily’s.